Historical Tides of Political Power Over the Years

     This was another essay for my Tulsa Community College government class.

     "Since the foundation of the United States, there has more or less always been two major powers, or parties, more or less dominating American politics. Before the Constitution, the main players were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, who debated on the size of government and the ratification of the Constitution. After Washington stepped down from the Presidency, Federalists like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans differed on whether to have a strong central government, as well as what groups to favor(Federalists supported merchants and commercial-level planters, Jefferson’s Republicans artisans and farmers). The Federalists basically fell apart about 1816, leading to Monroe’s Era of Good Feelings.

Around the time Monroe left the office and John Quincy Adams stepped into it, the Jeffersonian Republicans split in two, forming the Democratic and Whig groups. The Democrats were for limited government, personal liberty and opportunity for the common man, while the progressive Whigs stood for an active federal government focusing on internal improvements(for example, roads). The Democrats were the stronger of the two.

     This arrangement stayed put for about thirty years into the 1850’s, when the Whigs split due to southern concerns about a strong government forcing an ending to slavery. The northern Whigs allied with moderate antislavery Democrats and the minor radical antislavery Free Soil Party to found the modern Republican party. From the Civil War to the 1890’s, the two parties were relatively close in terms of power, but this was soon to change. Farmers were buried in hopeless debt, and this class was targeted by populists, which the Democrats began supporting in nominating William Jennings Bryan for President in 1896. This strategy backfired; as inflation caused urban working-class voters to bolt for the Republicans.

At this point, both parties raced headlong into more liberal tendencies; which was nothing new for the Republicans, but a complete change of course for the Democrats. Teddy Roosevelt was highly progressive, but the Republicans’ nomination of Taft led to a split which enabled Woodrow Wilson to be elected. The Republicans resumed power in the Roaring Twenties, which ended, of course, in the opening phases of the Great Depression. This crushed the public’s faith in Hoover’s policies, and Franklin Roosevelt was elected in a landslide.

     Under Roosevelt, the New Deal was worked out and the country survived through unprecedented government intervention in individuals’ welfare, and the Democrats held the Presidency almost uninterrupted until Nixon in 1968. Also at this time, the main principles have been reversed, as now Democrats are more progressive while Republicans tend to be more conservative in nature

     Since Nixon, and especially impacted by the Republican insurgence in 1994, power has swung back and forth between the two parties. Waves have occurred during most elections in the 21^st century, at the moment we have a divided government with Democratic control of the Senate, Republican control of the House, and Barack Obama as President."